VReds Bounce Back From A Heartbreaker

It could have been easy to blister and peel the paint off the University of New Brunswick Varsity Reds Women’s Basketball Team’s dressing room. Watching his team blow a 10 point halftime lead and eventually fall in a dramatic fashion in double overtime to the St. Francis Xavier University X-Women last Saturday night are games that can make a coach grow old.

Sure, UNB head coach Jeff Speedy was disappointed with the result, but the game was over. There was another game to plan for less than 16 hours later. Speedy opted to take a different approach, imploring his charges to put the loss to St. FX behind them.

The rare chance to play the same team again the next day was a blessing in disguise.

Instead of feeling sorry for themselves, the Varsity Reds came out and collected a victory in the second half of the two game series.

Now that’s progress.

“We were a little deflated after that loss, especially considering we had such a good week of practice and played a strong game against X,” said Speedy. “We’ve been trying to focus on getting better and not worrying about the scoreboard or the standings. That became part of our post game chat. We obviously were getting better, but just got unlucky on the scoreboard.”

True story. You have to take into consideration St. FX had tied the score in regulation with one second left on the clock. It was anybody’s ball game from that point on, but the visitors came away with the edge. Not so much the next day.

“I was so proud of the team on Sunday … they really showed some toughness, both mentally and physically, to come back and battle a really good opponent who have had our number,” he said. “The big W was icing on the cake. We did a lot of things well all weekend. When we play with this amount of toughness and passion, and play together as a team, we are pretty darn good. Hopefully we have learned this and we will see it again and again.”

Rookie stalwart Claire Colborne was happy with the way her teammates responded, too. There’s little doubt the rest of the Atlantic University Sport conference is keying in on the first-year player. Any traffic areas are tough in her area. When she has the ball, there’s someone on her in a heartbeat.

“I’ve definitely noticed a lot more coverage and there’s usually a girl that’s constantly on me,” Colborne said. “It’s about learning to get help from teammates and that’s what happened in our win. We did some different things that allowed us to get open and get the shots away. We made some adjustments and won.”

Colborne said the Varsity Reds were happy to end a three-game losing streak with the win on Sunday. Sometimes losing can be a reward. It’s a juxtaposition, but you can learn from disappointments.

“We came out in that second game with a lot to prove to ourselves and it was great that we had a chance to play against them right away instead of waiting a week or longer,” she said. “It’s better to get a loss out of the way now as opposed to the AUS championships or at the nationals. Coach wasn’t upset. He just wanted us to stick together as a team and make sure we’re preparing properly. We went out and did that.”